The Alternative
by givemeasuccessfuluserfame
Summary: Or what could have happened in The Deathly Hallows. T for some fighting and descriptions of wounds


The street was in ruins. You didn't need to be a wizard to see that. Buildings in shambles, corpses haphazardly thrown about, as if there had been a tornado. In a sense, there had been one. One filled with wizards,witches, adults, teenagers, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers. Spells had flown, not caring for the recipient, as long as it hit someone. Nobody could tell who sent which spell, but not a lot cared. Both sides used deadly force, having given up their moral codes a long time. At least, most of them. It was rare, now, to have people who didn't send the occasional killing curse. Never the less, the younger ones, who still had shreds of their innocence, could proudly say they had never killed someone. One of these teenagers now regretted her choice.

Casey Black had been dueling with Bellatrix, who, unfortunately, had been her aunt. She had just dodged a killing curse, about to send a hex back when she heard it. A familiar voice, crying out in pain. She had whirled around, just to see Seamus Finnegan, _her Seamus, the love of her life,_ crumple to the ground. Forgetting all about the battle around her, she fell to the ground, crawling to his body. She could hardly see, for tears were blocking her eyes. She did not bother to wipe them away, cradling her fiance's head in her lap.

No. _No, no, no no no no no no no no no no. Not her Seamus. Not him. Anyone but him._ She let out a wail of anguish, lowering her forehead to touch his. She was dimly aware of the sounds of the battle dying out. She just stared at the blank eyes of her soulmate, no longer seeing. She realized, with sickening clarity, exactly where he was when he died. Right _behind_ her. Where Bellabitch's curse went. "This is all my fault." Her voice cracked, causing her to let out a violent sob. And suddenly, she lost the last bit of composure she had. Body-wracking sobs forced their way out of her mouth. Listening to herself, she suddenly realized why the Ministry had thought her uncle had been laughing when they found him after he faced Pettigrew. _It must be a Black trait,_ she pondered bitterly, _to sound like a madman when you've lost everything._

She found that she couldn't stop. The sobs tore their way out of her, making her stomach hrt as she clutched Seamus to her. Her brain somehow registered that there were voices around her, suffocating her.

"What's-"

"No..."

It can't be."

"Seamus?"

"SEAMUS!" This voice she recognized. Dean Thomas, Seamus's best friend. He came to a stop next to her, slowly falling to his knees. "No." She heard the defeat in his voice as her sobs finally quieted. How long they sat there, she had no idea. It felt like an eternity, it felt like less than a second. A hand was trying to pull her up, but she fought it. She screamed and kicked and wailed. She knew she was being a child, but she didn't care. She wanted to, no needed to, stay with him. "NO! I need to stay with him! He needs me! He has to wake up!" She gave another sob, and was pulled into a hug. "He's gone Casey. I'm sorry, but he's gone." She struggled against Neville, trying to twist out of the hug. "No! He just has to wake up. H-he just has to..." She trailed off, stilling and eyes going wide. There were suddenly more voices.

"She's going into shock-"

"Distract her-"

"Keep her talking"

And then she blissfully fell unconscious.

 ** _Two Days Later..._**

It was two days before the Orders _oh so mighty_ leader decided to visit one of oldest friends in the infirmary located in their base. Well, I say base. It was actually Hogwarts, at least what was left of it. Harry Potter, the general of the Order of the Phoenix, had come to visit Casey Black. His two most trusted advisers, Ronald Weasly and Hermione Granger, had accompanied him. Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom were sitting with the youngest member of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. They had been whispering, their heads close together when the 'Golden Trio' walked had all turned, Luna's face uncharacteristically stone-like. Neville had quickly looked down after meeting Ron's gaze. Casey, well... Casey leveled a glare that would have You-Know-Who tremble at Harry.

The general cleared his throat. "Well, its good to see that you're alright-" He was quickly cut off by a furious snort. "Alright?!" The glare turned to a look of incredulity. "You think I'm alright? Would you be alright after seeing your soulmate die in front of you, while on a suicide mission?" Seeing his shocked face, she continued. "You and I both know that the mission, if we continued, would have killed everybody, not just Seamus. Its thanks to me going into shock that my squadron is alive right now." Harry quickly sent glances at the other two by her bed. Both were in total agreement with her sentiments. He tried to reason with them. "Look, Casey, you're upset, we can talk about this later."

She gave a bitter laugh. "Later? Later? I Seeing as I'm not going to be part of the Order that much later, we should probably talk about this now, _Potter._ " Her voice filled with venom at is last name. "Not a part of the Order? Are you _defecting!_?" Ron spoke up now his voice filled with disbelief. "No. I'm removing myself from the fighting. I am no longer a part of either side." Her arms were crossed, and she had the look that said 'I'm a Black and you have no authority over me.' Luna then stood up, looking each of them in the eye. "Neville and I are going with her." She quickly cut off Hermione's protest. "We are both tired of the fighting. We're going to do something good, for once." The former Ravenclaw went to her friends bed and helped her up.

Neville looked then, his eyes filled with strength that the Trio didn't know he had. His gaze stopped at Harry. He spoke, his voice soft, and yet filled with anger. "I once said I would follow you, that your battles were mine. The boy I promised that to no longer exists. You look like him, you talk like him, but you are not him. The Harry Potter I knew would never doom his friends to death." With that, they each turned, pops filling the air. The three of them stood, dumbfounded for a moment. Then, Harry whirled about and marched out of the room. Exchanging glances, his two friends hurried after him.

 _ **Elsewhere**_

Three figures arrived at a seemingly empty field, yet untouched by the war raging in the country around it. One of the figures, with black shoulder length hair and gray eyes, limped forward. Standing in the middle of the field, she raised what looked like a stick and mutters a few words-Da nobis sanctorum ordinem casey Andromeda Niger natu nobiles domus et antiquissimo Niger. _Give us sanctuary by the order of Casey Andromeda Black, youngest in the MOst Ancient and Noble House of Black._ To the other figures' amazement, a gigantic castle shimmered to existence. The first girl turned and smiled. "Do you think this will be big enough for our plans?" The boy nodded, awestruck. "Well? Come on. We have a lot of preparations to make if we're going to make this place into a hospital." The three teenagers, for that is what they were, went inside, not realizing that they're next actions would change the course of history.

Author's Note: Okay I just have a few things to say, because my hands are starting to cramp for typing for so long, but here it is. Basically, an alternate way that The Deathly Hallows could have gone. Casey Black is the daughter of Regulus and my OC Caelina. She was a Gryffindor and she had been one of Harry's closest friends before he became the general. After being in power for so long, Harry has started to turn a little Voldemorty. All other backstory stuff will be explained as the book progresses. Just remember this: Not all is as it seems. Escpecially when it comes to Casey. That girl is, if I may quote 11: "Impossible girl, mystery wrapped in an enigma, squeezed into a skirt that's just a little bit too... tight... What are you?"


End file.
